On a vacation, Three Students from St Stephen’s College drown in Periyar river in Kerala

Three students from St Stephen’s college along with a private resort owner drowned in Periyar river in Kerala’s Ernakulam district and lost their lives, Friday evening.

Anubhav Chandra from Bihar, Aditya Patel from Uttar Pradesh and Kenneth Jose from Kerala’s Wayanad were on a college trip accompanied by two female wardens. Anubhav and Aditya were third year students from the Department of Sanskrit, while Kenneth was a first years student from Chemistry.

The three had left their group to visit the location by the side of a private resort on Friday evening. They were accompanied by Benny Abraham, who owned the resort. The incident occurred at Paniyeli Poru, a tourist spot where the river has dangerous clusters of slippery rocks, near Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district. It has been reported that one of the four slipped into the river and the other two jumped to save him. Upon failing to do so Abraham, the resort owner who was familiar with the water also jumped, but lost his life while trying to save others. Abraham’s daughter is also a student of St Stephen’s College.

John Varghese, principal of the college addressing the incident said, “This is a moment of great sorrow for us. This was part of college trip. A warden was accompanying the children.They went away from the group. One student was drowning and others died while saving him”. He also reassured that the college would assist the parents concerned in all its capacity.
The three students were a part of the Malayalam Literary Society, which organises a trip to Kerala every year. The spot where the incident happened had warning signposts too. According to the police, the spot is known for its death traps for tourists because of strong undercurrents, though the water is only few feet deep. The bodies of all four have been recovered and taken to the Taluk hospital at Perumbavoor.

According to students, Aditya and Anubhav were very close friends. A condolence meet had also been planned for Saturday morning .

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